


Dark Skies

by cutiecat92



Series: Dark Skies Chronicles [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Digital Art, Is it 'Major Character Death' if they Died in Cannon?, M/M, Post-Episode: s04e16 The Waters of Mars, Pre-Episode: s04e17-e18 The End of Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:27:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutiecat92/pseuds/cutiecat92
Summary: After being teleported to a desert planet without his TARDIS how will the Doctor escape this hostile world full of man-eating Bioraptor with nothing but his sonic screwdriver and a band of castaway survivors? That's not to mention the escaped convict who seems far too interested in him than is comfortable.=Inspired by ThetaWolfe's 'Dark Companion' on Fanfiction.net=This story has been complete for a long time, but I've only just decided to type it up and post it. The same goes for its sequel.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Richard B. Riddick
Series: Dark Skies Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188194
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

“Well isn't this deja vu” The Doctor groaned as he pulled himself up from a large sand-dune, shacking the grains that had gathered in his scruffy brown locks away. Dusting off his coat, the Doctor spun in a circle and took in his surroundings. Yep, desert planet, no London bus in sight this time though.

“Brilliant…” the Doctor groaned, looking up at the twin suns above him. Why did she always do this to him! This time she had to go one step further than normal, the TARDIS didn’t just bring him to another planet, but actually teleported him without her! One minute he was on New Mecca repairing one of the Old Girls broken circuits when Bam! Here he was!

“Why didn’t she just take me here herself?” he frowned, having another look around before pulling out his sunglasses and using his sonic screwdriver to tint the glass so he could look around without the suns in his eyes. Glancing back up at the clear sky the Doctor took in the distance between the two suns and their orbit “Their orbiting around each other… so there must be a third sun, a larger one, that this solar system revolves around” he concluded, looking down at the coarse sand beneath his tennis shoes “Three suns, a desert planet. I can't be back on San Helios again, can I?”

‘ _One way to find out_ ’ he grimaced, swooping down and scooping up a handful of sand before pinching a bit between his fingers and quickly dropping it on his tongue.

“Eh!… Nope, not San Helios” the Doctor confirmed, spitting the granules out of his mouth and back to where it belonged. It was just sand, no residue of the dead in its compound “Well at least that leaves me with the hope of a settlement” There’s no way the TARDIS would strand him on an inhospitable planet with no way of getting back to her. 

He was then suddenly brought out of his musings by a slight whistling in the air. “Huh?” he blinked, adjusting his glasses as he looked up at the sound. Just as he caught sight of something in the sky the Time Lord was knocked right off his feet by a shock-wave as it entered the planet's atmosphere.

“Good Lord!” he gasped at what looked like a part of a ship plummeting down towards the sand below, not a hundred meters away. Scrambling to his feet, the Doctor sprinted towards the crash site. Thank the Eternals for all his running practice!

Arriving quickly at the crash, the Doctor found that it wasn’t just any old part of a space ship but the cargo hold “A purge” he realized, estimating the depth of the crater “Let's see. From the depth, direction and velocity, the main cabin must have landed approximately 5 miles…- in that direction!” he grinned, looking to the sunset on his right before turning his attention back to the cargo hold, there might be something useful inside after all. 

The beast was restless, Riddick could feel it inside; something new was coming. Something powerful, like a storm, an oncoming storm. And the beast inside was pleased for some reason, it made him want to slip the chains even more than he did before, wanted to rip away the mouth-piece and sink his teeth into the flesh of this unknown being. The feeling made him desperate enough to even hurt himself to get out and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

Slowly reaching his arms back, Riddick rotated them higher till a sickening ‘POP’ of his shoulder joints caused him to groan painfully as his arms dislocating from his shoulders, but that didn’t stop him from finishing their rotation over his head and back into place. Slipping the cuffs-links through a gape in the metal beam he had been bound to. Now he was free and ready to hunt.

Looking up at the rising blue sun behind him, the Doctor grinned smugly to himself; he loved being right. The third sun really was beautiful, it made everything almost shine like diamonds, kind of like the planet Midnight. Now there was something he never wanted to experience again.

At least he’d made a good decision to raid the cargo hold; it had been full of supplies, both medical and food. From the universal sign for hospital on the crates, a green moon, he guessed they were originally heading to a charity-hospital. Donations. But that didn’t stop him from scooping up as many bottles of water into his coat pockets as he could. Luckily they were bigger on the inside!

Taking a swig of the water, the Doctor savoured the taste. He may be a Time Lord that could stand the heat better than humans with an internal body temperature of only 16 degrees, but even walking miles through a desert could still dehydrate him. He’d been walking beside the drag-scar in the sand for a good couple of hours now, ignoring the pungent smell of burnt flesh as he passed scattered and scorched cryo-pods. At least there seemed to be one survivor if the footprints he was following meant anything.

He was about to take another drink when he heard it; the sound of a laser-pistol blast and a scream echoed across the dunes.

Dropping the bottle, the Doctor began to run straight towards the source of the sound. Guns meant people and people meant survivors. And if the Doctor knew one thing above all else was that when people got desperate they would fight for their lives, even if that meant attacking each other! 


	2. Chapter 2

-

“Stop!” the Doctor cried as he raced towards what looked like a group of humans gathered in a strange sand-cone valley, standing over a fallen figure “Stop it!” he called as he saw one of the women kick the fallen man in the head, probably knocking him out as he didn’t move again, luckily one of the men held the frantic woman back to stop her from assaulting him again.

“Woah, hold it right there!” the man who held the angry woman ordered, shoving the woman away as he drew a pistol and pointed it at the approaching Doctor “Who the hell are you?!”

“Stop being such an ass, John!” a blond woman scolded, stepping in between them sternly “He’s obviously another survivor! So put that thing away!”

“Well, _you_ tell him to keep his distance” Johns grunted, holstering the gun, gesturing between the Doctor and the man on the ground. This was when the Doctor took in the mans appearance, more particularly the uniform: Johns was a police officer.

“Keep my distance?” the Doctor scolded, kneeling down beside the unconscious male “She just knocked this poor man out, I just wanted to help him”

“Poor!?” the angry brunette woman screeched “ He just killed Zeke! There ‘s blood everywhere!” she cried, flinging her arm behind her at the group of the rest of the survivors who were gathered around a blood-soaked opening in the sand.

Paling at the sight of the blood, the Doctor quickly looked back down at the muscular man laid out in front of him. No that couldn’t be right; there wasn’t a speck of blood on him, but while everyone was in a state of panic it wasn’t likely they’d believe him, humans were irrational like that.

“Well, never the less, I’m the Doctor and right now this man needs medical attention” he stated, ignoring the sounds of protest as he reached forwards to examine his head wound “Ugh! I can't see in this light” he groaned looking up at the blue sun in annoyance “Can we get him inside?” he asked, glancing over at what was left of the crashed ship.

“Yeah, I’ll get the kid to grab some more cuffs” Johns grunted, heading over to the group.

“Cuffs?” 

“Bastards an escaped convict” the blond scoffed, kneeling down to pick up an abandoned knife, made from what looked like bone “Mass Murderer”

* * *

Being as street smart as he was, Riddick knew not to let on to his captor's when he came too, keeping his muscles relaxed and breathing rate steady, giving him a better opportunity to gather intel from said captors when they thought he couldn’t hear them.

“He doesn't deserve medical attention, he’s a murderer” Ah, the blue-eyed devil.

“Well with all respect, Officer, I don’t really care. All life is equal” at the sound of the new voice the beast went wild, thrashing inside of him. It was him! The storm, that powerful force that had been calling to him, the one he had been tracking before he’d been recaptured had come to _him_. That in itself was **_**very**_** pleasing to the beast.

“Listen to me, you bastard” Johns growled threateningly “He’s **_**my**_** prisoner and I ain't taking orders from a doctor with no name”

“Johns, just let him do what he wants” So the pretty blond ‘pilot’ was here too, it was surprising he didn’t notice her before since she had the strongest sent of sweat out of everyone in the room. It was probably due to his senses being overrun by the smell of the unique man the beast had become obsessed with.

But in all honesty, it wasn’t surprising since the ‘nameless doctor’ smelt wonderful; not even the hint of sweat on him, even in this heat and the nearly overpowering scent of fresh rain on apple-grass. Beautiful.

“He’s obviously not gonna shut up until he does and I’ve already got a headache from dehydration ” 

“You haven’t sound any water?” the honestly accented voice asked, not fake like the other man with the group, the one named after an ancient city.

“No, we’re drinking alcohol in the middle of a desert because we wanna get hammered” Johns grunted in annoyance.

“Ohh, someone’s grouchy” he could hear the tantalizing tease in the voice of the storm clearly, much to Riddick’s amusement “Here, have these. I found them in a skiff a couple of miles back” the sound of liquid splashing around in a container echoed off the metal walls, water? “I’m sure the preacher and the children would be grateful”

Isn’t that sweet of him, Johns? Making sure to mention the kids so you cant horde it all for yourself, he must already have you down to a ‘T’.

“Whatever”

* * *

As the two left with the couple bottles of water he’d given them, the Doctor turned his attention back to the bound male. Now in better lighting, he could see why he could smell the captain’s pheromones every time she looked at the convict; his skin was a rich caramel and built like a mountain, both in height and muscle mass. He was definitely a fine specimen of a humanoid male, after all, he couldn’t really classify him as ‘human’, not with the savage consciousness that kept brushing against his own. 

With a sigh of apprehension, the Doctor gathered a couple of medical supplies he’s salvaged and placed them on the closest flat surface with a half-full bottle of water. Turning his back to the man, the Doctor began to shed his coat and jacket “You don’t have to pretend anymore, I know you’re awake” he smiled happily, glancing back over his shoulder at the man while rolling up his shirt sleeves “Your heart rate increased slightly a couple of minutes ago”

“How interesting” a deep, gruff voice replied, a smirk obviously in his tone “Johns didn’t even notice”

“Yes, well I have better hearing than most people. It was the only physical response you couldn’t hide ” he smiled, turning back to the restrained man happily “Now let’s get a look at you!”

“I’m sure you’ve looked at me by now” the dark man chuckled, sending a shiver up the Time Lord’s spine, surprising him since nothing of the sort had ever happened to him before.

Looking at the predatory male, the Doctor noticed how he still had his head bowed away from the light seeping in from the cracks in the hull “Is there something wrong with your eyes?” Was it the head-wound from when Shazza had kicked him?

“You’re gonna need to get closer than that to check”

“Oh, yes! Of course!” the Doctor blinked, stepping closer so he was directly in front of the other, sonic screwdriver in hand.

As soon as he was at a reasonable distance, Riddick lunged from his seat; using all the slack in the chains to get right into the Doctor’s face, their noses practically touching “Surgical Shine? Never actually seen the finished result before” the Doctor muttered, hiding his surprise and the sudden invasion of his personal space “It allows you to see in night vision and heat signatures. The only downside is that it takes your ability to see most colours and makes you sensitive to direct light, right?”

“Clever, very clever”

“Who did the surgery?” the Doctor asked, knowing that the training for this sort of procedure was very rare.

“Slam doctor. Well, we called him him ‘doctor’. Fairly fucking’ ironic, wouldn’t you say?” the seated man grunted in dark amusement “Slamlight’s so dim that you go and get your eyeballs taken out and shined up then wind up here. Three ass suns”

“Would you like to sit back while I check your forehead?”

‘ _How very interesting_ ’ Riddick thought, raising an eyebrow a the lithe mans non-reaction to him, he was surprised but not scared. He didn’t fear him, or more precisely; he wasn’t afraid to die.

Slowly lowing himself back down, the convict watched the unusual man pick up a bottle of water and grin down at him naturally “Right, lets clean that wound!”

Very interesting indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Why didn’t anyone ever listen to him? The Doctor wondered as he watches Captain Fry crawl into the bloodied hole belief the spired cone hills. He told them Riddick didn’t kill Zeke, but of course, they needed more proof than logic! Humans always needed to see things with their own eyes to believe, didn’t they? Never mind that whatever killed Zeke was probably still down there, Nooo~! Let's just plunge in head first with nothing to defend yourself with and no backup, or way to run away!

He didn’t even know why he bothered anymore! It was nearly as bad as trying to find someone who listened to him when he said ‘don’t wander off’, which was apparently impossible!

Sighing tiredly, the Doctor slowly began to ease the tether through his hands which were connected to the Captain's belt, in case they had to pull her to safety, apparently. Yeah, _that_ was going to work!

“Ah, good sir. I never had the opportunity to thank you” the preacher beside him smiled, bowing his head in thanks “I am Abu al-Walid, but all call me Imam. The young ones; Ali, Suleiman, Hassan, and I are on Hajj to New Mecca, we are most grateful for the water”

“Wasn’t doing me any good keeping it” the Doctor shrugged.

“Others wouldn’t be so giving in the same situation we find ourselves in”

“My body doesn’t excrete sweat as quickly as others, you need it more” the Doctor shrugged again easily with a grin “And I disagree with underaged drinking at the best of times, but in a desert with no coffee? I wouldn’t want to tidy up after _that_ party!”

Hearing a quiet snicker behind him, the Doctor grinned cheekily at the giggling teenage boy who had been lounging against one of the sand spires.

Teens were always easier to keep in positive moods while in stressful situations like this. Just don’t treat them like kids and crack a couple of cheesy jokes and they were content.

“The Doctor” he greeted, twisting an arm behind him awkwardly, extending a hand.

“Jack” the teen snorted happily, shaking the offered hand.

“Jack? I knew a man named Jack once! The only man I ever knew to have an ego the same size of a small sun!” he laughed “Not that he didn’t earn it after flirting and ‘dancing’ his way across half the galaxy” he added, causing the boy to cackle gleefully. Did he mention dirty jokes worked just as well as cheesy ones?

“Quiet” Imam shushed them, walking closer to the hole “I thought I heard something…”

Frowning his brow, the Doctor shut up immediately and listened carefully for any sound. Jack did the same as he stood up to listen.

“Here!” Jack called, spinning around to face the sand cone he had leaning against “She’s in here!”

Wasting no time, the Doctor quickly dropped the rope and snatched up one of the antique dealers pickaxes before lunging towards the pillar. Smashing it into the brittle structure, crumbling a good portion of it on impact.

His actions caused the rest of the group to follow suit and rush over, Johns and Imam reaching into the crumbling hole and pulling the frantic Captain out. “I’ve got you” Johns reassured her as Jack clambered to get to the woman.

“I heard you, Fry! I heard you first!” he stammered as she was dragged herself farther away from the pillar “Fry? Are you okay, Fry?”

“Where’s Zeke?! Is he down there?!” Shazza demanded, rushing over.

“FUCK!” Fry barked, silencing everyone “So fucking stupid! I don’t know what the _fuck_ is down there, but it got Zeke and it almost got meEEE-!!” she cried out as she was jerked back towards the hole by the rope connected to her belt, kicking and screaming as the others lunged to grab her before she could be dragged back down the hole “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

“Hold it still!” the Doctor ordered as he rushed over and waved his sonic screwdriver over the metal cord, separating the links quickly “Ha!”

“W-what the hell is that?” Johns gasped, pulling Fry away from the hole again.

“Sonic Screwdriver. Never leave home without it” the Doctor grinned, tossing the device up in the air before catching it again “But I think the real question is ‘what are we going to do about _that_?” he asked, pointing into the dark hole.

“...Riddick”

* * *

“How are you even wearing that in this heat?!” Jack groaned dramatically, glaring childishly at the Doctor and eyeing his long brown coat that almost swallowed the thin man whole.

The two of them were walking in the middle of the group as they trudged through the sweltering desert heat towards the abandoned settlement, following the Captain and Johns who were leading the group of survivors. Riddick trailing behind due to the amount of stuff he’d been forced to carry in exchange for not being left behind at the Hunter Gratzner’s remains.

“Hmm?” the Doctor blinked, turning his attention away from analyzing the landscape to the teen beside him “I guess it’s getting a little clammy, but not uncomfortable” he shrugged with a grin “Besides, overheating is better than sunburn in my opinion. I once got possessed by a living sun, in the Torajii system, and let me tell you that sunburn on the inside isn’t pleasant! Thank Martha and that stasis chamber or I wouldn’t have survived! And I like this body, I’m very fond of it! I’d hate to lose it like that!”

“Oh, would you just stop!” Johns barked back at him, glaring over his shoulder in annoyance “If I wanted to listen to a madman ramble I’d go to church! So stick a sock in it!”

“Well I don’t see you making small-talk” Jack grunted moodily, pulling his new handmade goggles over his eyes.

“Yes, anything to get our minds off this heat” Paris groaned, heaving his bag higher upon his shoulder.

“I don’t care if you talk!” John stressed, waving his hand in frustration “It’s just _him_! That constant inane chatter!”

“Leave him alone!” Jack scolded.

“Yeah, Johns” Riddick’s rumbling, teasing voice called out from the back, silencing the bickering group “Let the Doc talk, he obviously has a lot to say. More then I can say about you” he grinned devilishly.

Seething angrily, Johns turned back around and continued to march forwards in a stomping pace, obviously furious over the new development.

Smiling softly at the convicts' defence of him, the Doctor made up his mind and spun around; walking backwards slowly until Riddick had caught up to him.

“Sup’ Doc?” he smirked at the shorter man still walking backwards in front of him.

“Here” the Doctor grinned shyly, holding out a still full bottle of water he’d still had in his pocket. “I haven’t seen you drink anything since I got here, and you’ve been doing the most work. Don’t worry, I checked the return address on the crate I got it from; not from Mars, so it’s Flood free!”

“Flood?” Riddick grunted, uncapping the bottle and sniffing the content before taking a swig.

“2059 Mars, a viral species escaped from the ice glaciers and infected nearly the entire crew of the Bowie Base One” the Doctor sighed, his eyes becoming glassy and distant with guilt “It used their dead bodies since they didn’t have a physical form of their own”

“Right, and how do you know this, Doc?” Riddick asked, raising an eyebrow as the Doctor turned to walk forwards next to him.

“I travel… Never stay still. You pick up a lot of information that way”

“Why do I feel like your not telling the whole truth, Doc?” Riddick growled lowly, leaning over the smaller man slightly in an intimidating way that sent another shiver through the Doctor’s spine. The animal side of him didn’t like to be lied to; it was seen as a rebellion against his dominance.

“Somethings are better left unsaid” the Doctor sighed with a casual shrug before picking up his pace to catch up with the rest of the group.

“I don’t like mysteries, Doc” the primal man growled, more to himself than anyone else as he took another swig of water “But I will solve this one, no matter how big of a mystery you are”

The colony had obviously been abandoned for a while, years if not decades from the look of it. Half of it was buried in sand from many previous storms and ill taken care of if any at all in the last 10-20 or so years.

The Doctor could tell from a quick look around that it would have been a very impressive colony in its day.

“From the architecture, I’d say it’s a 25th-century Geological research settlement” the Doctor grinned, stroking one of the buildings door-frames “Late 25th century if I’m not mistaken”

“Who cares” Johns snorted as he passed, carrying one of the power-cells in his back “As long as the Skiff works, I don’t give a fuck”

“It’s always ideal to know what century we’re working with!” the Doctor pouted, patting the frame one last time before wandering off, planning to find Imam, Paris and the kids “For all you know, those power-cells won't be compatible with the Skiff” he added smugly, not bothering to mention he could bond the two easily if necessary, just wanting the man to sweat a bit; he hated when people ignored and disregarded everything he said.

“So! Where are we off to?” he grinned, catching up with Imam.

“We are going to the source of water. The water you have given us is running out fast and we will need more if we are to survive this heat”

“What sort of water supplier is it?”

“A drill that travels deep into the planet and pumps up the water”

“Ah! Classic ways are always the best” the Doctor grinned happily. Humans never really strayed from their roots, but unfortunately, that also explained how the creatures in the cave had been surviving on the empty planet; underground springs supplied them with water… but what had they been eating?

In all honesty, he didn’t really want to find out.


	4. Chapter 4

.

“The panels are too dirty” the Doctor observed, scanning the water pump as the children flipped the control switches. Leaping up onto the low roof of the building next to the pump and pulling a clean rag from his coat, the Doctor began to wipe-down the solar panels. “Suleiman, Hassan, get the jugs ready. The pump should start at any moment!”

“Here it comes!” Paris cheered, snatching up a couple of tin mugs and shoving them under the spout.

“Amazing what a little cleaning will accomplish” the Doctor laughed as the spout began to gush water, not the clearest he’d ever seen, but it would do in a pinch “Where did Ali and Jack go off to?”

“Exploring most likely” Imam smiled as he took a sip of water “Ali is still too small to help with things like this, he went with young Jack”

‘So in other words, they wondered off’ the Doctor mentally sighed in annoyance, jumping down off the low roof and stuffing the rag back into his pocket “I’ll go find them and tell them we’re done”

“Why bother?” Paris shrugged, filling a couple of empty bottles “If they’re off playing, they’re out of our hair”

“Right” the Doctor nodded in agreement, heading off back to the Skiff “Should let them stretch their legs before we all get crammed into the ship”

Walking cheerfully through the settlement, the Doctor couldn’t help but feel positive about their situation. No real disaster had happened, they had water, shelter and would probably be off the planet soon enough.

He didn’t really see the reason the TARDIS had sent him here; these people would have gotten to this point on their own, at most all he’d done was give them a little water and helped have the Captain. Unless it had something to do with those creatures, but with them sticking to the dark and the planets constant day it didn’t seem like a real threat.

Maybe that was the TARDIS’s plan; to give him an adventure where everyone lived. He hadn’t had a day like that since the nanobot-machines in the WWII blitz. “Yeah~” He sighed dreamily at the thought “I could really do with a day like that after Mars”

* * *

Lounging back in a metal chair in one of the buildings of the settlement, the Doctor smiled in a content manner as he watched the ‘party’ the humans were having. They were celebrating the discovery of drinkable water, even using wine glasses and toasting their find. He loved this about humanity; they celebrated everything, even the little things. It was almost impossible to keep their race down; they always found a reason to survive.

This had to be it; the real reason the TARDIS sent him here. It was to remind him why he loved humanity and why he didn’t need to become the ‘Time Lord Victorious’. If they were going to, humans would survive all by themselves. He shouldn’t change fixed-points because the timelines would still correct themselves. Just because you could doesn’t mean you should.

Snapping out of his musings, the Doctor realised that Jack had arrived sporting an interesting new haircut which seemed to shock the rest of the group. Not that he understood why it would; Jack just wanted to express himself. To show his admiration for his new idol, even if that idol was a mass murderer; it was completely normal for kids his age. Just a typical teenage rebellion

“What?” Jack shrugged, grabbing one of the glasses.

“It’s the winner of the look-alike competition” Paris joked, eyeing the teens' handmade goggles.

“I think it actually suits him” the Doctor grinned cheekily at the questioning looks the adults gave him an honest smile of thanks from Jack.

“Anyway, who were these people? Miners?” Paris asked, looking at some of the equipment around the room; hoping to change the uncomfortable subject.

“Geologists” the Doctor answered simply, climbing from his seat and heading over to inspect some dusty objects on a shelf.

“Nice of them to leave so much stuff here” Fry added forebodingly “Why’d they leave their ship?”

She had to bring attention to the elephant in the room, didn’t she? Just as he was starting to convince himself everything was fine. Sighing at the prolonged silence that had settled over the group, the Doctor picked up a cracked picture frame and stared sadly down at the faded image.

“It’s not a ship, it’s a skiff and it’s disposable really” Johns dismissed too quickly.

“It’s more like an emergency life-raft, right?” Paris asked nervously.

“Yeah” Shazza nodded “They probably had a big drop-ship take them off-planet”

“These people didn’t leave” Riddick cut off the conversation before they could fool themselves with a pretty lie “Come on, whatever got Zeke got them. They’re all dead” he stated, bringing the uncomfortable silence back to the room. That was one of the main reasons the Doctor had started to respect the convict; he didn’t even need to raise his voice to gain the whole rooms attention.

“You don’t really think these people left with their clothes on the hooks and pictures on their shelves,” he asked, gesturing to the frame in the Doctors hand.

“Maybe they had weight limits” Shazza snapped back “You don’t know-”

“I know you don’t prep your emergency ship unless there’s a fucking emergency”

“He’s fucking right”

“Watch your mouth” Johns scolded the teen as he glared at the convict.

“Riddick’s right” the Doctor groaned in disappointment, still looking down at the faded photo sadly “If there’s one thing I know is that humans horde things and one thing they horde above all else is souvenirs. Would you leave your Wedding pictures, even with a weight limit?…” he paused, turning the frame around to show them the photo of a young happy couple, the edges worn and discoloured “I doubt _anyone_ would”

“So what happened? Where are they?”

“Has anyone seen the little one?” Imam asked urgently, storming back into the room suddenly, surprising everyone since none of them had seen him leave. “Ali?!”

“Has anyone checked the Coring room?”

“No…” the Doctor whispered desperately, a cold chill running through his body. Dropping the frame, he rushed out of the building with the rest of the survivors following closely behind.

‘ _Not the child! Anyone but the child!_ ’


	5. Chapter 5

'

The blood-curdling scream of the child that echoed through the settlement was more terrifying than anything the Doctor had ever heard in all of his ten regenerations, it ripped both of his hearts to shreds as he sprinted towards the coring room.

Slamming full force into the doors, the Doctor realised in horror that they were locked, chained from the inside; his sonic screwdriver wouldn’t work through steel “Gun!” he gasped, yanking Johns forwards “Shoot it!”

Not questioning his demand, the cop blasted the lock open and rushed in. “Ali?!” Imam called out, pushing past them, running deeper into the room.

“Ali?” the Doctor shouted, hurrying after the preacher, cold dread filling him as he mentally reached out for the boy and found nothing. The only time someone had absolutely no conscious thoughts was while in cryo-sleep or… dead.

“Jack, stay back” he waved behind him, there was something else in here; something primal. A slight rustling in the air followed by a distant shrieking of multiple sources confirmed it.

“What’s that?” Jack whispered, pointing to the rattling door off to the side of the room. “Is it Ali?” he asked, optimistically thinking it was the younger boy on the other side.

“Ali?” Imam asked, slowly approaching the doors as the Doctor did the opposite; backing away from the unknown threat, unconsciously backing towards the strong convict.

Just as Imam was about to open the door it burst open, slamming into him and sending him flying back with a pained cry. A swarm of screeching creatures flew out from the dark and did a lap of the room before descending down a large pipe in the centre of the floor.

“...No” the Doctor whispered in horrified realisation as it all fell into place in his head.

“What?” Riddick growled in his ear, leaning close over his shoulder as Johns went to check on Imam.

“Bioraptors… We’re on M6-117”

* * *

The Doctor stood away from the coring tunnel as Johns dropped a flare down it, he didn’t want to see what he already knew was down there. Instead, he decided to keep his mind occupied by shifting through the coring samples.

“Other buildings weren’t secure” Riddick analysed, leaning over the tunnel “So they ran here; heaviest doors. Thought they’d be safe in here, but they forgot to lock the basement”

“So what the fuck are these things?” Johns asked, heading over to the Doctor.

“Bioraptors, native to the planet M6-117 in the M-344/6 system” he sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair, continuing to shift through the samples “I’ve never actually visited the planet before and for good reason; it’s a dead zone, avoided at all cost. Bioraptors live in a honeycomb system of caves that run through the entire planet. They reproduce thousands of young a year, this is because they eat many of them to survive. They’re cannibals because that's all there is to eat for 22 years straight” he stated, taking a shaky breath before continuing “They’re sensitive to light and prolonged exposure is deadly to them, but every 22 years there’s a month-long eclipse when they emerge to hunt… these coring samples are dated 22 years ago”

“You’re no afraid of the dark, are you?” Riddick smirked as he watched Johns pale in realisation.

“W-well what are we going to do?” Shazza asked in a panic.

“We get the hell off this planet” the Captain stated confidently, marching out of the coring room.

* * *

Crouching down behind the Skiff, the Doctor clenched his hair in his long fingers in frustration. Why? Why?! of all places to strand him, why here? Why now? They were all going to die, he could feel it and there was nothing he could do but die with them. They needed a miracle.

“So, Doc. Care to share how you know so much about a planet that’s apparently black-listed?” the deep sultry tone of Riddick’s voice asked beside him, startling the Doctor enough to make him fall from his crouch onto his arse.

Looking up to the source of the sudden voice, the Time Lord saw the mass murderer seated comfortably next to him mixing some unusual, brown gel in a metal container. His stealth was amazing to be able to sneak up on him, or he’d been just so distracted that he hadn’t paid enough attention to his surroundings. The Doctor somehow doubted it was the second option. 

“I said I was a trailer, I like to know where and why I shouldn’t visit a planet” he shrugged easily.

“Yeah, but how do you know about these bad-boys?”

“...My planet is known for documenting all of history. I don’t question their information anymore”

“And what planet’s that then?” Riddick asked, beginning to smear the gel over his scalp, leading the Doctor to conclude that it was some sort of shaving-gel.

“Doesn't matter anymore” he sighed, climbing to his feet and patting down his sand-covered trousers “It’s gone now, all of it” shaking his head, the Doctor dismissed the conversation by walking off. It was strange how easily he could talk with the convict compared to the rest of the group, it was probably he knew that Riddick took him seriously and that he was the one most likely to survive this situation. At least that’s what he hoped was the reason.

“You’ll have to answer me honestly one day, Doc”

‘Seeing as we’re not likely going to live much longer, I doubt it’ the Doctor scoffed mentally, continuing his trek back towards the ‘party’ room.

The ride on the sand-cart was rough, but that was expected seeing as they were raising against the rising planet threatening to eclipse the suns. Unfortunately, the threat of impending doom and the volatile ride didn’t stop Riddick from glaring dangerously at the back of the Doctors head from his place at the back of the buggy. The lithe man had dared to undermine his dominance by blatantly ignoring him.

Being ignored wasn’t something new to the convict, people usually did it while pretending to not be afraid of him, but that wasn’t the case with the mysterious male. It was more along the lines of when a wife gave her husband the cold shoulder after missing an anniversary or something, and Riddick had no idea how to deal with this new situation.

He’d never had to deal with anything like this before, a situation where he wanted to completely dominate a person, but not in a bloody fight to the death. He knew he lusted after the brunette, but he’d spent most of his life in one prison or another so he doubted the same approach he would normally do would be accepted or appreciated by any of the survivors. He also doubted it was even the same sort of desire he felt for the Doc. Unlike normal it wasn’t just a sexual desire to dominate him; he didn’t just want his body, he wanted _all_ of him. He wanted to ****claim**** him.

He’d come to accept these facts, but the only problem was that his animal instincts didn’t want to claim the Doc by force; it wanted him to submit willingly to his power.

With this understanding, Riddick knew one thing for sure; that he would do anything to keep the Doc, even if he had to kill the rest of the survivors to guaranteed their own escape.


	6. Chapter 6

'

Rushing into the remains of the Hunter Gratzner, the Doctor followed the Captain as she unscrewed one of the many power-cells and deposited it into his waiting arms. As heavy as it was, he tried to move as quickly as he could to get it back to the solar buggy while Fry hurried off to help Imam with his own.

They had to move faster; the planet was rising more quickly in the sky than they had expected and they were running out of time.

“Where’s Paris?” he groaned, dropping the cell into the buggy’s chassis, looking around for the antique dealer.

“Grabbing some more bourbon from his stash” Shazza sighed, gesturing to the detached part of the ship that had obviously used to be one of the cargo holds.

“Bastard better make it quick” Johns grunted, dumping his own cell next to the Doctors “I ain't risking my life for a couple of bottles of booze”

“Um… Guys…” Jack called to them, pointing to the dangerously ascending planet that had already started to swallow one of the smaller suns.

“Rassilion…” the Doctor muttered in horror, staring at the sight in disbelief before snapping into action and clambering onto the buggy, pulling a rag from his coat and began whipping the glass dome containing the solar panel furiously.

But it was useless, the light was fading fast along with the cart's power. “Shit!” Shazza cried in frustration, slamming her hands down on the steering wheel as the sand-carts engine stalled for the last time and refused to restart.

_ “Gaaaahaaa!!!~” _

The first animalistic cry echoed over the dunes froze everyone’s efforts in terror; they were coming…

“How many are there?” Johns asked in a hushed tone as if that would help their situation.

In response, Riddick lifted his goggles to his forehead and stared up at the darkening sky. “Beautiful…” he whispered simply as he watched the deadly swarm emerge from their nest in a cyclone-like pattern.

“Allah…” Imam prayed, clutching Suleiman and Hassan’s small shoulders; trying to keep them close to him.

“Just a suggestion!” Paris called out to them from the detached cargo hold, causing everyone to spring into action “Perhaps you should flee!”

“Right!” the Doctor jumped before running towards the cargo hold next to Shazza, who was screaming profanities as the flock of young Bioraptors dived after the group.

“Get Down!” Fry cried at them as the rest of the survivors clambered into the hold, the swarm swooping down between the rest of the group and Doctor, Shazza, and Riddick.

Before the Doctor could even think of following the Captains instructions Riddick didn’t give him a choice and ploughed into him; sending them face-first into the sand. Surprisingly the convict actually seemed to be shielding him with his larger body as the baby Bioraptors made a lunge for them.

As they laid there, the creatures seemed to quiet-down as if they had just left; no beat of thousands of tiny wings, no high pitched shrieks. All was silent for long agonising moments. It was time to act.

“Let's go” the Doctor whispered hurriedly, trying to push himself up only to be held down by the other mans heavier weight.

“Stay. Put.” Riddick stressed each word harshly. Unfortunately, Shazza didn’t hear or didn’t take the murderers advise and leapt to her feet, making a sprint for the others.

At that moment Riddick flipped onto his back next to the Time Lord, keeping one large hand on the back of the Doctors head to keep it flat against the ground as the flock reappeared; swooping down inches above them as they lunged for Shazza.

“No!” the Doctor cried, trying to lift his head as a distinct scream of agony ripped through the air, but Riddick tensed his arm to keep him down, unable to see the scene of horror.

“Not. Yet” Riddick stressed once again, slowly reaching up and pulling his goggles back down over his silver eyes. As the screams faded into the distance, Riddick released the Doctor and casually climbed to his feet, patting his hands free of sand while the Doctor sat there in shock.

They took her entire body; she was still alive when they took her. He couldn’t even be comforted with her having a quick death like others he had met on his adventures. She had been eaten alive…

“Come on” Riddick grunted, snatching his thin arm and heaving him to his shaky feet before dragging him towards the safety of the cargo cabin silently. That was when it finally dawned on him for the first time since meeting the man; he really was a cold-blooded killer. He didn’t care that Shazza had just been savagely killed.

It finally became real to him; the dominating male who’d been invoking all these strange and foreign feelings from him could murder any one of them without batting an eye.

And this killer had just saved his life.

* * *

Stumbling through the purged cabins corridor, the Doctor ignored the humans' desperate ramblings as he thought; now was not the time for grief, it was the time for a plan. He had to get the last of the survivors back to the settlement before they went into a blind panic that would get them all killed.

“Alright!” the Doctor started in his most commanding voice, getting everyone's attention since none of them had heard him sound like that before; which shame on him, he should have taken charge of the situation long ago and not wallowed in fear and guilt “We are going to get out of here, now. How much light do we have?”

“Are you insane?!”

“I’m _not_ going out there!”

“No way!”

“Quiet,” Riddick growled, silencing the panicked protests, holding a hand up as he listened carefully as an echo of a shriek rattled the metal corridor. One had gotten inside.

“There must be a breach in the hull…” Fry whispered as Jack shone his flashlight down the hallway.

“C’mon, Johns. You got the big gauge” Riddick called back to the cop, stepping between the Doctor and the source of the sound, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Time Lord.

“I’d rather piss glass” Johns snorted which surprised the Doctor; weren’t cops usually the first ones to step in if someone was in danger? The Doctor had met stewards braver than Johns, the one on the Titanic space cruise was one that immediately came to mind; he had taken charge and scouted ahead without a single thought to his own safety! Or even the brave Hostess of the shuttle bus on planet Midnight! It was natural instinct, so why didn’t Johns have the same reaction? Unless- “Why don’t you go fucking check?” he wasn’t a real cop…

Pushing that thought aside for another time, the Doctor snapped back into action “That’s enough of that!” he stated, pushing to the back of the group and pulling out his sonic screwdriver, waving it over a wall panel before pulling it open “Well, come on! Allonsy!”

Sighing when they just looked at him blankly, the Doctor practically shoved a panicking Paris through the hole, kicking the rest of them into gear.

“Now we’re trapped in a much _smaller_ space!” Paris gasped as the Doctor sealed them in “Hate this- I hate this!”

“Ha-Ah!” the Doctor yelped, leaping away from the panel as one of the Bioraptors tail spikes pierced the metal “Ho-kay! Captain! The cutting torch, we need a new door!” he insisted as it began to attack the metal panel, leaving frighteningly large dents.

Thankfully the excitement creeping into his voice went unnoticed by most of the survivors; his old habit had finally kicked in now the fear had been suppressed. The worse it gets the better, the more exciting it is. And this situation had to be one of the worst he had been in since he didn’t even have the TARDIS to retreat to.

The only one to notice the change in the Doctor was Riddick. He smirked silently at the unusual man's attitude; now this was getting very interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

.

“Fascinating” the lithe Time Lord muttered, crouching down next to the dead Bioraptor that John had just shot. In all honesty, he was only trying to distract himself from little Hassan’s death moments ago by analysing the creature. It seemed as though they had infested nearly every corner of the cargo unit.

“What’s so fucking interesting about something that looks like a hammerhead shark with wings?” Johns snarled, holding his shotgun at the ready while Fry continued to cut a new escape route for them.

“Their biology” the Doctor answered, slowly waving his sonic over the monster's flesh, glasses perched on the tip of his nose as he leaned closer for a better look and pretend that Riddick wasn’t standing directly behind him in a protective manner “Their whole body, minus the exoskeleton, is laced with a compound, not unlike spheric-acid, but it only seems to become active under a light source. Well, more accurately; the electromagnetic radiation that makes up visible light”

“What? Light doesn't give off radiation” Jack pouted in confusion “Does it?”

“Don’t be stupid” Johns snorted as Fry finished cutting and kicked-in the metal so they could all pass through it.

“I understand why Jack doesn’t know that all visible light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, but any space-faring adult I expected you to know” the Doctor scoffed, pointing a finger at the ‘cop’ as she climbed through the hole “It’s the reason all space ships have radiation-shields! Most light radiation isn't harmful to most beings, but for others are increasingly sensitive! Like the Vashta Nerada!”

“The what?”

“Vashta Nerada. A flesh-eating nano-swarm that lives in the dark. Be happy it’s Bioraptors we have to deal with and not them!”

“You’re insane” Johns sneered in irritation.

“He’s right about ships and spacesuits having radiation-shields, though” Fry nodded “It’s a planet's atmosphere that protects us normally from the suns radiation”

“Exactly! But the point is; we need light to survive on this planet. So… What have we got?”

“Well, we have one cutting torch” Fry sighed, dumping the still-lit torch on a metal crate near the middle of the small room.

“Two hand-lights” Jack added, holding up the one in his hand.

“There has to be something we could grab from the crashed ship, and Johns has some flares”

“Anything else?” the Doctor urged, knowing that just those couldn’t last long enough to get them all to the settlement safely.

“Spirits” Paris suggested, patting his bag “Anything over 45 proof burns rather well”

“How many bottles ya’ got?”

“About 10”

“That should be enough” the Doctor grinned, doing the math in his head. It could work.

“Enough for fucking what?” Johns growled suspiciously.

“We can't stay here. The eclipse is a month-long, we wouldn’t survive. The only option we have is to make a run for the settlement” the Doctor explained, laying the facts on the table. This was their only option. Well, he could probably survive a month with so little supplies, but humans were terribly delicate.

“I hate to ruin a lovely idea with an ugly fact, but the sand-cart is solar; it won't run at night” Paris snorted sceptically.

“So we carry the cells” Fry cut in “We drag them, whatever it takes”

“What?” Jack gasped, pulling his knees up close to his body “With those things out there?”

“We should just sit tight,” Johns said, a hint of nearly undetectable panic in his voice “We should think about everyone now, think how scared this boy will be out there in the dark” he added, nodding at Jack.

“Don’t use him to hide your own fear” Fry growled in annoyance.

“Why don’t you shut your god-damn mouth!”

“Alright, stop it, now!” the Doctor ordered, raising his voice slightly. Why did humans have to always argue? “This is our only choice. With no food or water, we’d be dead within a week. And I know you’re all scared, I am too! I’ll admit it! But just think why you’re all here; Imam, you were on a pilgrimage to you’re holy land” he began in a hope to boost their spirits “Paris, where were you going?”

“Home” the antique dealer sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes “Just brought some new merchandise and was heading home to my wife”

“What’s your wife’s name?”

“Doma-qen” he smiled dreamily as he thought of her “Half human, half Alzarian. Heh…the human half is French”

“Fantastic” the Doctor grinned before turning to Jack “Jackie-boy, what about you?”

Jack simply shrugged, hugging his knees tighter “Just… running. Running far away”

“Brilliant” the Doctor beamed, sitting down next to the teen “One of the best things you can do; running. I’ve been doing it for most of my life”

“Is this going anywhere?” Johns snorted impatiently.

“Yes actually” the Doctor grinned, jumping up to circle around the group “What I’m saying is that we may all be scared, but just think about what's waiting for you! Spiritual enlightenment! Home! People! The freedom to just Run!” he laughed, looking at Riddick at the end instead of Jack “And it's all waiting for you! But you’re not going to get any of it unless we survive… So? Who wants to join me in a jog across the desert?”

* * *

“This is suicide” Johns grunted as he grabbed as many fluorescent lights as he could “How are we going to find our way back?”

“Riddick” the Doctor called back to him as he used his sonic screwdriver to attach the LSD lights to the portable power-source “Even I can't see as well as him in the dark, he’ll lead our way”

“How’d you know he won't just leave us to die before coming back for the cells?” Paris asked as he gathered as many bottles of alcohol he could find.

“Because he saved my life” the Doctor grinned confidently, watching as said man walked past.

“I’ll run ten paces ahead. I want light on my back, not in my eyes, and get Doc to check your cuts. These bad-boys know our blood now” he ordered, not stopping in his walk, but did flash the Time Lord a smirk as he heard him; obviously please with the Doctors faith in him.

“All hooked-up” the Doctor called to the entire group as he hopped out of the handmade sledge they were using to pull the power-cells and battery for the lights. “I think we’re all ready”

“I’m not” Paris gulped as Riddick pushed open the sliding metal door “Are we actually going to do this?”

“Just keep thinking about your wife, Paris” he smiled encouragingly.

“We stay together and keep the light burning” Fry frowned seriously “That’s all we gotta do to get through this” she added before heading deeper into the wrecked ship, probably going to speak with Johns who’d wondered off after speaking with the Doctor.

Taking the chance while the others went to get ready, the Doctor grabbed one of the broken LED light tubes before pulling something from his bottomless pockets and using his screwdriver to throw them all together.

“What you doing?” Jack asked, coming to stand beside the unusual man.

“He said he wanted the light on his back” he explained, showing the teen the belt-like construction he’d fashioned with many small lights attached “These lights are too small to make a difference to the group, but Riddick will be ahead of us. They’ll warn the Bioraptors off for a bit”

“I’m happy your here…” Jack muttered quietly before looking at Riddick who had his back to them, guarding the open door “No one else seems to worry about him”

Smiling softly at the teen's honesty, the Doctor handed the light-belt over to him “Here. You give it to him while I help the others” he said, nodding towards Imam who was trying to help Suleiman wrap the LED lights around him and failing badly.

“Me?! But I-”

“Go on” the Doctor urged, giving the startled boy a little push “You’ve been dying to talk to him for ages; I just gave you an excuse” he grinned at the boy's flustered face as he walked away. A little hero worship was good for kids, you just had to make sure it wasn’t directed at the wrong person. Riddick was perfect for Jack in this situation; he was fearless and determined to get off this rock alive. The Doctor just hoped he wouldn’t do anything to ruin the respect the teen had given him in some way.


	8. Chapter 8

As everyone finished wrapping themselves in the fluorescent blue tube lights, Johns and Imam grabbed the ropes attached to the handmade sled, ready to drag it as they were the two most physically strongest in the small group, aside from Riddick who was leading their way. And the doctor of course, but he’d decided to let the humans take the burden since he wanted to keep an eye on the two remaining young members of the group.

“You ready?” Fry asked, looking back at the Doctor who was just finishing securing the lights over his shoulder.

He beamed cheerfully in response “Always”

“Alright people, let's go!” She called, the sledge sliding out onto the sand smoothly as Imam and Johns ran, dragging it behind them.

Taking interest, the Doctor quickly took a glance up at the sky as they ran; there were absolutely no lights, no stars were visible from their point. He could only hope that it was the planet above them blocking his view and not clouds. ‘ _My luck isn't that bad… is it?_ ’ he wondered as he watched the blue light skimming over the Bioraptors ecto-skeletons that surrounded them as they ran.

They weren't going fast enough, he realised as the cutting-torch flickered out abruptly; finally out of fuel. Like all creatures, the Bioraptors would get bolder about approaching them the longer they were out in the open. Their hunger would eventually take over their survival instinct and they would risk getting burnt for food.

“Stay close” he whispered to Jack who was holding his tube-light like a gun. They would go for the smallest first and that meant Jack was the most likely target.

Paris seemed to panic as the torch went out and scrambled for one of the bourbon bottles in the sledge, knocking one of the flares out onto the sand. Just out of their circle of light.

“Wait!” Jack called to the rest of them, removing his lights as he went to retrieve it; knowing that any source of light counted to their survival.

“Jack!” Fry barked in worry; the Bioraptors had noticed the vulnerable teen separated from the group and began their shrieking again to locate their prey.

“No!” the Doctor cried as one lunged for the boy, luckily Imam reacted faster and chucked off his lights before throwing himself over the teen; distorting the monster's image causing it to retreat as Johns shot at it.

“Jack!” the Captain and Doctor cried out, ducking under the ‘cops’ gun as they rushed over to the priest and boy. Fry stopping halfway to yell at Paris while the Doctor continued, crouching down by the boy.

“What did I just say!” he scolded, checking the teen over for injuries “Stay close! Why doesn’t anyone ever-” he stopped abruptly as a crash of metal rang out behind him and the lights began to fade “…listen to me”

Thinking fast, the Doctor snatched the flare from Jacks's hands and pulled the cord; lighting it instantly. “Grab the bourbon!” he ordered, not wanting anyone else to be killed while too far away from the light. He knew Paris was probably dead already, he’d been too far away from the rest of the group when the lights had gone out.

Gathering around the sledge, the Doctor handed the flare to the Captain before grabbing a couple of bottles and lighting the fuses, handing them off the two teenagers “Here. This time stay close” he demanded, staring directly into Jack’s downcast eyes “No matter what happens, okay?”

“I’m sorry…” he whispered looking over at the source of most of the Bioraptor cries; where Paris’ body probably was being devoured.

“I know” the Doctor sighed, pulling the teens shaved head to rest on his slim shoulder in a quick hug before they continued their trek across the wasteland.

They couldn’t run anymore just encase the sudden movement blew-out their only remaining light.

* * *

He hadn’t been expecting that Riddick would admit, looking between the creatures reaction and Jack. It was a surprise that Jack even had him fooled for so long. But now he had a chance to think about it, it made quite a bit of sense; travelling alone at such a young age in a dangerous galaxy, what else would someone with a bit of common sense do?

Boys are targeted less than girls after all. But what to do about her bleeding?

“Can we pick up the pace!?” the ‘Captain’ called from the back of the group causing him to change his direction slightly.

* * *

They’d been walking in a circle, the Doctor realised, looking down at the drag marks in the sand in front of them. Drag marks from their sledge.

“Ya’ wanna tell me what the hell is going on?” Johns scolded, approaching the suspiciously still convict, looking more than a bit pissed off.

“We’ve crossed our own tracks” Fry realised.

“Are we lost?” Imam asked, looking more disappointed than annoyed.

“Listen…” Riddick whispered, looking off into the dark.

“Do you even know where we are-?” the priest began again only to be interrupted by the muscular man's order for silence.

“Listen!…”

That’s when it dawned on the Doctor; the sounds of the Bioraptors was different. They weren’t shrieking for their sonar like before, it was more of a low rattling sound like they were communicating.

“Canyon ahead I circled once to buy some time to think” Riddick admitted.

“I think we should go now”

“Ah, I don’t know about that. That’s death row up there. Especially with the girl bleeding”

“What?” Johns scoffed, looking over at the Captain “What are you talking about? She’s not cut”

“Not her…” Riddick smirked, looking past Fry at the teenager beside the Doctor “ _Her_ ”

“Jack?” the Doctor asked, his doe eyes wide in shock as he stared down at the teenage _girl_. Taking a closer look at her panicked face he could see now what he’d originally overlooked. Those were definitely the eyes of a girl, but he didn’t see any injuries so that could only mean she was on her menstrual cycle. This situation was a perfectly good example why Time Lords didn’t physically reproduce using such means; too primitive, too many bodily fluids.

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Johns groaned in realisation.

“I- I just thought it would be better if people took me for a guy, I thought they might leave me alone” Jack practically sobbed out in her normal voice, dropping the deeper tone as the Doctor shushed her by pulling her into another hug. This time not letting go as he comforted her.

“It’s alright, Jack. It’s not your fault”

“They’ve had out scent since we left” Riddick muttered “If you haven’t noticed, they go after blood”

“Look, this isn’t going to work” Fry sighed regretfully “W-we’re gonna have to go back”

“What you say?” Johns stared at her menacingly “You’re the one giving me a hard time for not wanting to come out here in the first place”

“I know, I -”

“No. You’re right, Carolyn; my life’s a steaming pile of-”

“Quiet!” the Doctor shouted, stopping the argument in its tracks “There’s no going back now! This night last a ****month****! Our only choice is to carry on, the settlement can only be a good couple of 100 meters away. Agreed?”

“Agreed” Imam nodded.

“Whatever” Johns snorted, hurrying to catch up with Riddick, leaving the rest of them to deal with the sledge. “But I’d watch my back with _her_ ”

“What did he mean by that?” Imam frowned as he and the Doctor began to drag the sledge.

“Doesn’t matter” Fry scolded darkly, eyeing the ‘cop’ in front of them as he began a quiet conversation with Riddick.

“Too right” the Doctor nodded, giving Jack a reassuring smile before turning back to watch Johns back wearily; not liking where their conversation was heading “WE should concentrate on staying alive…”

“What are they doing up there?” Jack asked quietly, not wanting to gain the men's attention. The tension within the group was growing and the Doctor could actually hear the disturbing conversation with his enhanced hearing.

“Probably discussing how to make it through the canyon…” Imam suggested; hoping to disperse the heavy atmosphere.

‘ _If only…_ ’ the Doctor thought, biting his lip as he slowed the group's pace to gain more distance between them and the potential danger.

* * *

“Alright, enough of this shit” Johns scolded “You do the girl and I’ll keep the others off your back” he proposed, smirking at the convicts back as they stopped. This was perfect, if everything worked out as he’d planned he’d have the chance to off that annoying Doctor during the commotion and then they’d have even more meat for the beasts to keep them off their backs.

Plus, everyone would be all over Riddick for killing the kid so they wouldn’t even care what happened to the idiot. “It’s not too big of a job for ya’, is it?”

“Nah, I’m just wondering if we don’t need a bigger piece of bate…”

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

The fearful look in the Doc’s brown eyes was beautiful, Riddick realised as he appeared before the fleeing group. They had ditched the power-cells when he and Johns had started grappling; poor bastard didn’t know who he was fucking with. Did he really think he didn’t see through his plan? Johns would have taken any chance to ghost his Doc; the blue-eyed devil hated anyone who didn’t follow him blindly and Riddick could see his true intentions a mile away.

“Back to the ship, huh?” Riddick asked, not taking his eyes off the lithe man “Just huddle together till the lights burn-out”

“Riddick…” the Doctor sighed in relief, a weak smile pulling at his lips.

“You stay away from us!” Fry warned, holding the light in front of her threateningly.

“-So you can’t see what's eating you. That the big plan? You said so yourself, Doc; you won't last a week”

“Where’s Johns?”

“Which half?”

“W-we’re gonna lose everybody out here…” Jack whimpered.

“No, we’re not” the Doctor scolded, wrapping an arm over the teen's shoulder comfortingly “But Riddick’s right; we cant go back to the ship. Our best chance is by going through the canyon”

“We need to get the cells” Fry sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes before looking in the direction they had just come from.

“Stay here” Riddick ordered as he passed her, heading back into the dark “You were lucky enough to run in the direction of the skiff. You better hope that luck lasts”

The Doctor frowned in thought as he watched the strong males back disappear beyond the light. If they had been running in the direction of the settlement when all hell broke loose, then that meant Riddick had been leading them in the wrong direction while talking with Johns. He’d known that he was going to kill Johns, the Doctor realised; it was to lure as many Bioraptors away from the canyon before they passed through it.

To increase their chance of survival.

“We should pray while we wait” Imam suggested, pulling Suleiman closer into the centre of the group; protective of his single remaining charge.

“Not for me, thanks” the Time Lord smiled sadly as he pushed Jack towards the preacher “My people’s god isn’t the sort you pray to”

“What kind of god cant you pray to?” Jack frowned in confusion as she watched the skinny man seat himself on the edge of a large skeleton.

“The sort that lets your entire race die”

* * *

‘ _So much for the decoy…_ ’ the Doctor thought nervously as the small group entered the steep canyon, watching the silhouettes of the Bioraptors skulking around; their cries and screeches echoing off the stone walls.

Pushing aside his rising fear, the Doctor quickly turned his attention back to the crouching convict in front of them as he surveyed the path ahead. “Only see one way” Riddick began, standing from his kneeling position “That way” he gestured in front of him, into the heart of the canyon “It’s the only way off this rock. Just keep the girl in between you” he instructed, making his way to the back of the group.

“What about the cells?” Imam asked, eyeing the imposing man.

“I’ll take those”

“What?” the Doctor gasped, watching the man pull down his goggles “They’re 35 kilos each!”

“Move”

“Are you sure you can keep up?” Fry asked doubtfully.

“MOVE!” Riddick practically roared, charging forwards; startling the others into a panicked sprint as he dragged the power-cells behind him.

‘ _I knew there would be more running!_ ’ the Doctor thought before glancing back at the murderer behind them feeling as if he was the predator they were running from.

Not looking where he was going, the Doctor ended up knocking into the Captain as she stalled with a gasp; a flock of young Bioraptors was making its way through the canyon towards them. Thinking on his feet, the Doctor lunged forwards and dropped himself over Jack just before they were surrounded by the small beasts. Strangely enough, they didn’t attack, but simply flew past them.

“Why aren’t they trying to eat us?” Jack asked in between her gasping breath as they continued to jog deeper into the canyon.

“They’re running from something” the Doctor realised as he ran beside the teen, only to be splattered in the face by a thick blue liquid “Ack!”

“Do not look up!” Riddick called through the heavily falling fluid that fell like rain. Unfortunately for Riddick, it was human nature to do the opposite of what they’re told and the small group looked anyway, shielding their bourbon lights from the liquid as they ran.

“They’re killing each other!” Jack cried out.

“He said ‘Don’t Look’!” the Doctor barked, shoving the stalled teenager forwards as they continued to get splattered with that battling monster's blood. “Humans and their bloody curiosity!” he scolded as they dodged falling body-parts and intestines.

“It’s blocked!” Fry called from the front of the group as they ran straight for a large skeleton blocking the canyons path.

“Weave through it!” the Doctor ordered from the back, rolling his eyes “You’re not bloody elephants! Bob and weave!” he scolded, pushing them towards the maze of bone.


	10. Chapter 10

.

Riddick didn’t understand why seeing fear in the Doctors eyes gave him no pleasure as it had before, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out. The boy had been injured by a stray beastie, which resulted in the rest of the group stopping to tend to him. The Doc was the first one to jump to his aid as usual, but the convict knew they didn’t have time to waste on such things.

These monsters weren't going to wait politely for them to treat the wounded before coming back for seconds!

“Riddick, wait!” Jack called after him as he continued to drag the cells through the bone covered path.

For the first time in his life, Riddick had to ignore his animal instincts as they snarled and howled in his head. They wanted him to put himself in danger for someone else, to protect his Doc. The beast had never put anyone’s survival above is own before and it was driving him mad! It was so hard to ignore the one thing that had kept him alive his entire life! But fuck it, he wasn’t going to die today!

* * *

Damn it, why didn’t any of them think to check any of the ‘dead’ Bioraptors laying around or at least tell the kids to keep away from them?! Just because it had its bottom half eaten away didn’t mean it was dead! Stupid!

Pulling some scavenged medical supplies from his coat, the Doctor began to hurriedly wrap Suleiman’s bloodied led, biting his lip as he heard Jack cry-out for Riddick. He didn’t even need to turn around and look to know that the large man was leaving them behind, but what he couldn’t explain was why that hurt; that being left by the convict practically cut into his frantically beating hearts.

He had known something like this was coming since he’d killed Johns; he had shown that he was more than willing to sacrifice any of them to survive.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A terrifies scream pulled the Doctor violently from his depressing thoughts as he spun away from treating Suleiman’s led to the sound to see Jack trapped under a massive rib bone by a fully grown Bioraptor trying to smash its way through to get to her.

Shoving the bandages into Imam’s hands, the Doctor rushed over, snatched up a stray bone and began to smash it against the monster as the Captain tried to fend it off with a flash-light. “Get off of her!” she cried “Get off!”

“Riddick!” the Doctor called out unconsciously as the Bioraptors wing lashed out and knocked him back into the canyon wall, bashing his head against the hard stone.

“Grahh!” a low animalistic cry ripped through the scene of chaos and the Doctor’s fuzzy vision caused him to look up with blurry eyes as the Bioraptor lunged off the rib bone towards Riddick’s charging form. His sudden return leaving the Time Lord in shock.

“Riddick…” the Doctor grinned, shaking off his dizziness and pulled himself to his feet and hurried over to help the Captain pull Jack from under the splintered bone, purposefully keeping his eyes averted from the horror show occurring that was Riddick slashing viciously at the monsters soft underbelly not two yards away.

“You alright?” he worried, still shaking due to the shock, pulling the trembling girl in front of him before waving his sonic screwdriver over her; checking for damage.

“Y-yeah…” Jack muttered, not taking her eyes filled with worship off her saviour as he violently snapped the Bioraptors neck with a scoff.

“Didn't know who it was fucking with” Riddick snorted down at the beastie before turning back to the group, training his gaze on the Doctor. Now he understood, seeing the fear still lingering in those doe eyes; It pleased the Beast when the fear was of _him_ , it was a show of submission and respect for his dominance, but when the fear was directed at anything else his instincts screamed ‘ ** **Protect**** ’. Especially when the Doc asked for it.

“Move”

“Right!” the Doctor nodded, glancing up as the high-pitched screeches picked up once again. “Riddick!” he called after the man as he went to retrieve the power-cells, causing him to look over his shoulder at the lithe man “Thank you” he grinned boyishly at the convict before rushing back to help Imam carry Suleiman.

“Huh…” Riddick smirked at the retreating male before returning his attention back to the cells. The Doc was an honest mystery and wonder to him; the first person to ever thank him for anything.

* * *

When the Doctor felt the first few drops of water hit his face as he ran he couldn’t help but cry out in frustration. “For Rassilion’s sake!” he cursed, ruffling his already manic hair as the rest of the survivors tried to shield their flames from the rain. He was never normally _this_ unlucky!

Suddenly a deep, distorted sounding bark echoed through the canyon causing them to jump in fear. It took a moment and a second bark for the Doctor to realise that the terrifying sound was coming from **_**Riddick**_** ; the sound of the convicts disturbing laughter sending chills up the Time Lords spine.

As the rain grew heavier, Riddick turned to face the group, focusing mainly on Imam with a twisted mocking smirk of amusement pulling at his lips “So where the hell’s your God now?”

.


	11. Chapter 11

.

The rain began to fall so heavily that the group had to huddle under a small alcove in the rock wall of the canyon to stop the water from destroying their only light source while Riddick climbed to a better vantage point.

As Jack tried to re-light the Captain's bourbon, the Doctor quickly made his way over to Imam who was trying to treat Suleiman’s still bleeding leg. “Here, let me help” the Doctor instructed before removing the now soaked bandages. The gash looked horrible; sand had gotten into the open wound, and a steady stream of blood was still flowing from the split and swollen flesh. He was surprised the boy had been able to run as far as he had before falling.

“Riddick, are we close?” the Captain called over the rain, her voice growing in panic “Just tell me that the settlement is right up there!” she begged.

A moment of silence fell over the survivors filled only with the sounds of shrieking Bioraptors and falling rain before a deep rumble of Riddick’s voice reached them, but the man was too far away for the Doctor to make out what the man had actually muttered over the background noise.

Suddenly the Doctor felt Suleiman’s leg be yanked from his hands with a strangled scream.

“Nononono, NO!” the Doctor shouted desperately as he turned to find the boy being dragged up the side of the canyon shear wall by a Bioraptors tail around his thin neck. Both the Doctor and Imam made a frantic lung for the teen, only to miss as he was pulled out of their reach and over the cliff-face “NO!”

As Imam fell to his knees in despair and began pounding the wet sand in horror at losing his last acolyte, the Doctor continued to stare up at where they had lost sight of the boy, his shoulders slumped as he whispered sadly “I’m so sorry…”

* * *

Riddick knew before the boy was taken that they couldn’t all make it back to the Skiff, his death only confirmed it.

He wasn’t going to die for these people, not even for the Doc.

He could male it to the settlement alone easily…

He knew he wouldn’t be able to trick the Doctor into ‘scouting ahead’ with him; he’d become too attached to the girl to leave her behind. So Riddick did the next best thing; he’d trapped them in a small cave and so blocked the entrance so the beasties couldn’t get in. It was a test Riddick convinced himself; if the Doc found a way to survive, he’d be worth keeping as a mate. Riddick wasn’t about to get himself killed for someone who wasn’t worth the effort, no matter how amazing or inviting his sent smelt.

He would come back in a month when the eclipse ended, if the Doc were still alive, he’d claim him on the spot and the best part was that the Doc would be too starved to fight his dominance or have the energy to be angry for being left behind.

“Survive, Doctor” Riddick growled under his breath at the thought as he dragged the cells through the dark and away from his future mate.

* * *

“This won’t last long” Fry whispered as she and Jack finished pouring the last of the bourbon into a single bottle.

“No… It won't” the Doctor sighed, running a hand through his wet hair as he looked at the small amount of alcohol in the bottom of the bottle. For all of his knowledge and experience, he felt rather useless right now, there wasn’t much even he could do stuck in a rock crevice surrounded by carnivorous monsters with only his sonic screwdriver. His night vision wasn’t good enough to risk going out there; he couldn’t lead them to the settlement if he couldn’t even see the Bioraptors coming.

“He’s not coming back, is he?” Jack asked, surprising the Doctor with how accepting she seemed about it like she was stating a fact instead of asking a question. She didn’t even sound upset by it.

This made the Doctor realise how more mature the 12-year-old was compared to him. She’d calmly accepted their abandonment while he couldn’t help be feel utterly betrayed and heartbroken by the fact. He’d honestly thought Riddick had changed after coming back to save his and Jack’s lives.

“No” the Doctor sighed sadly, lifting his arm so the girl could huddle up next to him as they sat against the cold stone, not knowing if the hug was to comfort her or himself at this point.

The minutes ticked by solemn silence after that, only broken up by the sound of beating wings outside and the crackle of the dying fire.

“...You know, after all the things I’ve seen and done in my long life I always assumed I’d die doing something brilliant… or horrible, or even stupid. Hell, probably all three at once, but not quietly in the dark…”

“You must have lead an interesting life to assume that, Doctor” Imam replied, not wanting the silence to consume them again, and if he’d learned anything during this trip it was that the Doctor was good at talking “Most men wish to die quietly in their sleep”

“Nah, not me. Never me” the Doctor smiled sadly with a far off look in his eyes “I fought in wars. I’ve been to the end of the universe. Liberated Ood-kind. Saw the creation and destruction of the Earth… I haven’t had a dull moment since I left my planet all those centuries ago and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The funny thing is I only ended up on this planet to avoid dying and changing… but now I have a feeling I won't be waking up as someone else this time” the Doctor grinned sadly at their confused faces.

“...Who are you? Really?” Fry asked softly, not wanting to believe a word he’d said but not being able to help to do just that as she saw the honesty and nostalgia in his old eyes.

“I’m the last of the Time Lords” the Doctor admitted, not seeing the point in lying as he watched their only source of light slowly flicker. Soon his race would be extinct anyway…

“What’s a Time Lord?” Jack asked in utter confusion while Imam and Fry shared a look of shock at the admittance; having heard rumours and myths about Time Lords. Most of which came from people who had escaped from being converted by Necromongers who saw their mythical race as godly beings.

“They were one of the oldest and wisest beings in the universe. Time Lords is an adult Gallifreyan who has graduated from the Academy. We mastered time travel when the universe was still young…”

“You can time travel!?” Jack asked, hopefully gripping the Doctor’s arm. Obviously assuming he could save them.

“Not without my ship and not in my own personal timeline”

“Oh… But what happened to the rest? You said you were the ‘last’?”

“Daleks” the Doctor stated resulting in a shudder from the three humans, all of them had heard of the Dalek Empire; it was one of the reasons most people didn’t travel outside of this galaxy nowadays. “The great war with the Daleks killed them all, along with our planet, long before the Earth was even formed” he explained quietly as the sounds of Bioraptors outside grew closer, their light beginning to get dangerously dim.

Accepting that their last form of defence was about to go out, the Doctor pulled the young girl closer to his side and listened to the monsters outside with bated breath, the flame finally flickering out.

Leaving them in complete darkness…


	12. Chapter 12

.

The Doctor couldn’t believe his eyes. Instead of the endless void of darkness he’s expected to surround them when the bourbon ran out, there was hope in the shape of softly glowing larvae wriggling along the stone walls.

“Ha!” the Doctor cheered in a strained whisper as he jumped to his feet to inspect the worms more closely. “Bio-luminescent slugs! They must have adapted to protect themselves against the Bioraptors. Brilliant!”

“We can use them!” the Captain whispered back excitedly.

“Oh, yes!” the Time Lord exclaimed. That tiny glimmer of hope was all he needed to jump back into action, a plan already forming in his head “Start gathering them quickly! We need to get them in the bottles!”

* * *

“Imam, stay with Jack. The Captain and I will come back with more light after stopping Riddick” the Doctor ordered as he stripped off his coat knowing it would only get in the way as he climbed through the canyon and they needed to be fast if they wanted to catch up with Riddick before he left.

“You’ll come back right?” Jack asked nervously while wrapping the large coat around her small shoulders, obviously not as trusting since her idol had abandoned them.

“We promise” Fry vowed with determination before she and the Doctor manoeuvred the bolder just enough to silently slip past and into the deadly wilderness with nothing but a bottle of glowing slugs and a sonic screwdriver.

“Run.” the Doctor ordered as soon as they stepped out into the freezing rain, linking their hands before sprinting through the canyon in the direction of the settlement.

They weren’t that far he realised while waving his bottle in front of them to ward off the Bioraptors that were growing bolder with each passing moment. He recognised some landmarks that he could just see in the soft light, the settlement was over the next ridge and only about a mile away from where they’d left Jack and Imam!

The light from the fluorescent slugs wasn’t strong enough to scare off the monsters for long so the Doctor had to count his blessings that it wasn’t a far distance to run and that the Bioraptors weren’t smart enough to work out it was safe to attack them right away.

Once they reached the steep ridge the Doctor grunted “Climb!” before reaching down to give the Captain a leg-up over the slippery rocks blocking the exit to the canyon, his bottle held between his clenched teeth as he supported her weight.

“Fuck!” Fry cried suddenly in distress, far too loudly for the Time Lords comfort.

“Shh! What’s wrong? We have to keep moving!” he stressed as she stumbled back down off the ridge and landed on her knees next to him.

“I can’t…” she whispered, not meeting his eyes from her crouched position.

“Sure you can! If it helps I’ll go first and pull you up, but we need to go now! Riddick isn’t going to wait!” the Doctor whispered encouragingly as he grabbed her by the shoulders desperately.

A beat of silence passed over the pair as Fry looked up into his eyes before revealing her heavily bleeding arm, having cut it open with a sharp rock on the ridge. The gash was bad; a jagged wound splitting open her pale flesh all the way up from her wrist to the inside of her elbow.

“No, no, no!” the Doctor rambled as he quickly searching his pockets for medical supplies only to realise in horror that he’d left the medipacks in his _coat_ pockets. The coat he’d left with Jack.

“They’ll catch my sent soon” Fry whispered sadly as she reapplied pressure to her arm with gritted teeth, just happy she hadn’t gone into shock yet. The ominous sounds of the Bioraptors in the distance growing louder with each passing second. “I could lead them away…”

“No! I’m not losing anybody else!” the Doctor scolded, pulling off his belt to use it as a tourniquet above the wound.

“We don’t have time to argue and I’ll only slow you down!” the Captain growled, pushing him away as soon as he was done “The sent of my blood will draw them straight to us and I won't be the reason you all die! Not this time!”

“What do you mean, Captain?”

“I’m not the Captain! I’m the Docking Pilot and I was going to dump the passenger cabin during the crash!” she cried out in guilt and frustration, waving her good arm around to trying and make him understand “I have to do this! Owen’s died to protect you all so let me do the same to make his sacrifice worth something!”

The Doctor sat there in horror for a moment at Fry’s admittance before the rest of her words sunk in; she was begging him to let her do it, knowing that if he didn’t all of them would die. She was _so_ human…

“I’m so, so sorry…” he whispered sadly, running one of his bloodied hands through her hair comfortingly before turning back to the rock wall and began to scale it, turning his back on her as she stood and ran in the opposite direction.

* * *

As Riddick began powering-up the Skiff for take-off he paused when he felt it; an oncoming storm. The Beast purred in delight as it grew closer, the Doctor had somehow made it to the settlement. ‘Oh, such a very clever man~’ Riddick thought in pleasure as the skinny brunette stumbled in front of the ship, right into the beam of the external lights. His poor Doctor looked exhausted, panting heavily as he looked up at him through the window with wide doe eyes through the heavy downpour.

A deep, approving rumble escaped the convict’s chest at the sight. With a smirk, he stood from the pilots' seat and made his way to the back of the ship to lower the ramp.

As the Doctor staggered around the skiff to meet him at the back, Riddick spotted the blood staining his jacket cuffs and an almost defeated look in his old eyes. “Strong survival instinct” he smirked in approval “I admire that, Doc”

“Please…” the Doctor gasped, looking up the ramp at the fearsome man “I need to go back for Imam and Jack”

“What about the Captain?” Riddick asked, casually spreading his muscular arms out to grab each side of the open hatch.

He noticed the unusual look in the Doctor’s eyes for a second when he mentioned the woman before answering “She not coming…”

Interesting, but all the same, he wasn’t going back out there and risk his neck for the kid or Muslim. He couldn’t risk the Doctor ether. “Hm”

“Please, Riddick” he begged “Help me…”

“As pretty as your pleading is, I’ve got a better idea: come with me” Riddick ordered, stepping down the ramp slightly, closer to his Doc.

“What?! No! I promised I’d come back with more light! I can’t let them die!” the Doctor shouted, outraged by the very idea.

“If you don’t, I _will_ leave you here”

“I can’t-” he rasped weakly, his tired legs slowly giving out at the thought of being standard again so soon after gaining that tiny sliver of hope from the bio-luminescent slugs while in the cave. He couldn’t face being abandoned to die so soon after the last betrayal… not from Riddick, a man who was more important to him then he had the right to be.

“Sure you can” Riddick assured the kneeling Time Lord, offering him a hand “You said it yourself, Doc; you’ve been running your whole life. What’s wrong with doing it now?”

For once, the Doctor’s words failed him, leaving him crumpled at the bottom of the skiffs ramp in a puddle of freezing rain.

At seeing the empty look in the smaller man's eyes, Riddick made his way down the slope and reached out to help him into the skiff “Come on., now. Be a good boy~”

“No!” the Doctor screamed as the touch of Riddick grabbing his arms snapped him out of his dazed state, trying to pull away from the strong grip as he stumbled back to his feet “I’m THE Doctor! I’ve never run from death! I run from the past, and if I leave now this choice will just be another thing I’ll be running from!” he cried out as he fought to escape only to be grabbed tighter and shaken.

“You would die for them? A couple of people you don’t even really know?” Riddick growled, tightening his grip around the man’s slim arms until they bruised.

“ _Yes!_ Every time!” the Doctor barked back, right in the convict's face, panting heavily as a still moment passed between them. Riddick slowly released one of the Doctor’s arms to remove his goggles and look into the shorter man's eyes. Eyes filled with such fury and passion that it felt like he was looking into the heart of a star…

“How interesting…”


	13. Chapter 13

'

He didn’t know why Riddick changed his mind about helping him, all the Doctor knew was that he was incredibly grateful since he wouldn't be able to save the others alone, not this time. But that still didn’t stop it from stinging when they finally made it back to the cave and the first thing Jack said when she saw them was ‘I never had a doubt’. if only the poor the girl knew that they’d both considered leaving her to die, even if for the Doctor it was only for a second.

But in the grand scheme of things it didn’t really matter since they were now running again, back towards the settlement and as much as the Doctor loved running he couldn’t help but feel put-out that neither Jack nor Imam asked about Fry even in passing. That they just assumed she was dead but not even caring to confirm it. Normally the Doctor would write it off as them being used to it by now, accept it as another amazing coping mechanism humans had developed under extreme circumstances, but regardless of her past miss-deeds, Fry had sacrificed herself for them. She deserved to be remembered.

Pushing that negative thought from his mind, the Doctor focused on keeping up with Riddick and making sure Jack was still between him and Imam. He’d lost three children during this disaster and he refused to lose the last one due to carelessness.

Just as the group was about to turn a corner Riddick skidded to a sudden stop, signalling for the rest of them to follow his lead as the echoing calls of Bioraptors could be heard over the rain in front of them.

From the sounds of crashing, the Doctor assumed that the monsters were fighting each other and they would have to make a run for it. His suspicion was confirmed when Riddick reached back to grab his hand before making a mad dash forwards, instinctively causing the Doctor to take Jack’s hand as not to lose her.

The Doctor guessed that their lights and the sudden charge was what caused the Bioraptors to scatter, but he had no time to think on it more as seconds after they were busy trying to scale the steep rock bank that had taken Fry from them.

“Don’t stop! Come on, move!” Riddick ordered as he practically dragged the Doctor up to the top while Imam did the same for Jack.

“Move, you know the way!” He barked, pushing them ahead of him.

“Riddick?!” the Doctor called back once he noticed that the convict had paused at the top of the ridge while the rest of them had continued to run.

“Get to them to the ship!” Riddick shouted back just as the Bioraptor that had scattered returned and landed behind him “Go!”

“Stay alive!” the Doctor ordered as he began to jog after the last to survivors “I’ll come back for you!”

* * *

As soon as the Doctor made sure the other two were safely on the ship, he quickly took his coat back from Jack “I need this back for one quick tick!” he rambled, digging down into his deep pockets for his mobile before taking it apart along with one of the ships radio speakers.

“Doctor, what are you doing? We must go!” Imam pleaded.

“Not without Riddick” the Doctor growled, putting the finishing touches on the quickly crafted device before sprinting back out into the rain, following the sound of the man's screams “Riddick!”

Weaving his way through the maze of the buildings of the settlement the Time Lord finally spotted the convict trapped between two raptors, barely avoiding their slashing claws and snapping fangs.

“Oi!” the Doctor called out as he ran over, trying to get the Bioraptors attention away from Riddick “Ugly shark-heads!”

“Doc, don’t!” Riddick grunted through his pain, covered in blood and cuts.

“Wanna know why you shouldn’t attack a man with a sonic screwdriver if you only see with echo-location?” the Doctor smirked as he got close enough before holding out the device and sonic screwdriver “Because he can use a phone and speaker to amplify the sonic sound waves!”

With that, he put the screwdriver up to the microphone of the mobile causing the speaker to let out an ear-piercing sonic screech. The sound vibrating through the area violently causing the raptors to thrash around in pain, even making Riddick fall to his knees and cover his ringing ears.

As the Doctor got closer in hope to drive the Bioraptors away from the man, one of the monsters lashed out between it frantic thrashing at the source of the sound with its tail, hitting the Time Lord unexpectedly and sending him colliding with one of the buildings metal walls; knocking him out cold.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Riddick growled at the sight of his Doc collapsed vulnerably on the ground as it sent him into a feral rage. Launching himself at the Bioraptor, Riddick began slicing its stomach open with his bone knife before delivering a powerhouse kick to its head, sending it flying away from his mate. Thankfully this distracted the other beastie by giving it an easy meal.

Wasting no time, Riddick rushed over to the unconscious man and picked him up easily, making sure to grab his precious screwdriver before making a break for the ship while the raptor was busy devouring its fallen brother.

“Is he okay?” Jack asked hurriedly at the sight of Riddick walking up the ramp into the ship cradling the Doctor in a bridal-style hold.

“Just a knock to the head” he grunted as he deposited the lithe man onto the bench next to Imam “Make sure he doesn’t fall” he ordered the preacher with an unspoken threat before hastily climbing back into the pilot's seat and starting up the engines only to stop suddenly as a thought hit him. They couldn’t leave like this. He needed to teach these fuckers a lesson.

“Riddick, what are you doing?” Jack asked in utter confusion as the convict powered down the engines until all the lights on the skiff went out “Can we just get the hell out of here now?” she whispered desperately as the sounds of Bioraptors climbing over the back of the ship began to echo through the metal hull.

“We can’t leave…” he growled just as one of the monsters landed on the window in front of him, trying to claw its way through the screen “Without saying goodnight”

Blasting the thrusters into full power, Riddick burnt the gathered flock behind the ship into ash as he ploughed the skiff through the rest of them, forcing Imam to grab the Doctor’s jacket to prevent him from falling off the bench at the sudden launch.

“Ugh, my head…” the Doctor grumbled, regaining consciousness just as the ship exited the planet's atmosphere “I’m never doing that again”

“You shouldn't have gotten so close in the first place” Riddick grumbled, not looking away from the controls as he steered the ship away from the planet.

“It was only a short-ranged amplifier. I needed to scare them off before it burnt-out” the Doctor shrugged while rubbing his sore head “Ohh, that’s gonna bruise”

“Just thank Allah you’re alive, Doctor” Imam stated gravely “There’s sp much prayer to make up for, I scarcely know where to begin”

“I know where I’d start” Jack smiled weakly while handing the Doctor his coat before climbing into the co-pilot seat next to Riddick “There’s going to be a lot of questions from whoever we run into… it could even be a merc-ship. So what the hell do we tell them about you?” she asked the convict nervously, not wanting her idol to end up back in prison.

“What’s to tell?” the Doctor asked, surprising Jack as he suddenly leaned over her shoulder to flash them both a cheeky grin “Riddick died in the crash, right?”

“...Right” Jack grinned back after a moment of shocked silence. She shouldn't have doubted the Doctor, of cause he wouldn’t betray Riddick like that.

“And here I thought you’d given up on me, Doc” Riddick smirked back at the Doctor’s boyish grin.

“You may be a killer, Riddick, but I still see something in you worth saving,” the Doctor told him softly just as their ship exited the M-344/G system, on course for New Mecca. The rays of sunlight from behind the eclipsing planet leaving him feeling hopeful. Life-giving.

**Author's Note:**

> No, I have not abandoned my other works, but this story has been sitting on my shelf for years just waiting to be typed up and posted.


End file.
